Here's How To Disinfect Your Kitchen Sink Without The Use Of Bleach

Most home cooks agree that an organized kitchen is helpful when prepping food and entertaining. A clean and sanitized kitchen and food prep area is essential to ensure safety against bacteria and other germs for ourselves and others.

Like many other home cooks, I’ve always felt the key to a sanitized sink begins and ends with bleach. I typically grab my spray bleach cleaner and sponge to disinfect my kitchen sink once or twice weekly. But the pungent smell of bleach, a caustic chemical near food prep, and the fact that I ended up with bleach spots on my clothing one too many times eventually gave me pause. I needed to find a better way. “While kitchen sinks are amongst the dirtiest places in your home, bleach is not always the answer,” says Jacqueline Stein, Austin, Texas-based owner of Home Reimagined, a cleaning and organizing company. 

After some research, I found a better option and a well-kept secret by cleaning experts for sanitizing my kitchen sink without the use of bleach.

Disinfect with Hydrogen Peroxide

While bleach is an acceptable cleaner for many surfaces, there are some surfaces where bleach could potentially corrode if too highly concentrated or if left too long. If you’re unsure or looking for an alternative to harsh chemical cleaners, it’s essential to research and understand what cleaners are safe on specific surfaces. “If you have a stainless steel sink, you would not want to pour bleach on it, as this can damage it,” says Stein. Thankfully, there are better alternatives in this case, and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide hiding in your medicine cabinet or under your bathroom sink is surprisingly an acceptable option. Safe for disinfecting a sink, color-safe for most surfaces, and non-toxic for humans and pets, hydrogen peroxide is a well-kept secret that many cleaning experts prefer instead of bleach. 

Step 1: Clean the Sink

If you plan to use hydrogen peroxide as a bleach alternative for cleaning your sink, there are a few initial steps that you will want to consider. First, clear your sink by tossing any food scraps from the drain into the trash or washing them down the disposal. “I always clean off dirt and grime with dish soap first,” says Stein. Simply sweeping away the debris or food particles in a kitchen sink enables the surface to be more exposed and sanitized. 

Step 2: Disinfect the Sink

After cleaning off food particles and grime, spray the sink with hydrogen peroxide. You can affix a simple spray bottle head to the peroxide bottle and then spray an even coat of the peroxide onto the sink’s surface. Or if you don’t have a sprayer nozzle handy, just dampen a cloth with peroxide and wipe the cloth throughout the sink. Let the solution sit on the sink's surface before rinsing. Stein recommends at least 30 seconds for the hydrogen peroxide to sanitize the sink's surface. Then, use a sponge to scrub and clean all the areas gently. Finish with rinsing the peroxide and any leftover grime with water. 

How Often To Disinfect Your Sink

As with many surfaces in the home, the kitchen sink requires regular cleaning. It is one of the germiest places in your home, so experts strongly recommend cleaning and disinfecting it at least once a week or more. Regardless of how frequently you cook, a clean and sanitized sink is not just necessary; it's crucial to safeguard against germs and bacteria growth. 

Use Hydrogen Peroxide on Other Surfaces

There are many more uses for hydrogen peroxide above and beyond it’s sanitizing power on a kitchen sink. Consider other areas within your home where you might typically use bleach. Stein explains that it’s helpful in a shower. “It will reduce and/or prevent the buildup of certain types of mold in the shower (in the grout, tiles, corners, etc.,” she says. Many have mixed baking soda and peroxide to clean grout and even unclog a slow drain. Just be sure never to mix vinegar with hydrogen peroxide, which can cause a harmful toxic gas if inhaled.